


Strictly Strategic

by denpring, slotumn



Series: Lysiclaude Week Stories with Illustrations [2]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Art, Digital Art, Engagement, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Golden Deer Route, Illustrations, Light Angst, Love Confessions, Love Potion/Spell, LysiClaude Week, Meeting the Parents, Plot Twists, Post-Timeskip | War Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Sort Of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-06-28
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:00:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24925804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/denpring/pseuds/denpring, https://archiveofourown.org/users/slotumn/pseuds/slotumn
Summary: [contains illustration]"You're insane for coming up with this plan, and I'm insane for going along with it.""They do say that the difference between insanity and genius is paper thin.""You could afford to toe the line a little less, in my opinion."On a count of three, they both drank out of small vials labeled "Nuvelle Love Potion," and stepped into the ceremony hall.A.K.A. Lysithea and Claude get engaged for "strictly strategic" reasons, and use a love potion in order to help themselves act like a couple.
Relationships: Lysithea von Ordelia/Claude von Riegan
Series: Lysiclaude Week Stories with Illustrations [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1803874
Comments: 1
Kudos: 31
Collections: LysiClaude Week 2020, Slotumn Portfolio





	Strictly Strategic

**Author's Note:**

> Writer note: I rolled this idea around in my head a lot and began a couple ditched drafts before settling on this. Think it came out nice.
> 
> Artist note: I can't believe I drew fullbodies and backgrounds because of Lysiclaude.

"Ready?"

Lysithea looked at the small object in her hands, then at Claude, and sighed.

"You're insane for coming up with this plan, and I'm insane for going along with it."

He shrugged. "They do say that the difference between insanity and genius is paper thin."

"You could afford to toe the line a little less, in my opinion."

Claude only gave an amused chuckle in response.

On a count of three, they both drank out of small vials labeled "Nuvelle Love Potion," and stepped into the ceremony hall.

\---

The idea was this.

In order to stop the Empire from harming Ordelia once they raised their anti-Imperial flag, they needed to show that they had strong connections to other powerful nobles in the Alliance, and that attempting to interfere in their affairs would be bad news.

And what better way to establish that kind of connection, Claude suggested, than marriage-- to the leader of the Leicester Alliance himself, no less?

"Wait, wait, before you burn me to a crisp-- it'll just be an engagement, not an actual marriage," he'd hastily explained, when her expression began morphing into something between incredulous and offended. "We can call it off once the war is over. It'll just be an act. A show. That's all."

Long story short, she agreed to it because it was for her family's sake, and now a betrothal ceremony was to be held in Derdriu, where Claude would talk with her parents and most of the prominent nobles (and scions) of the Alliance would be present for, as Claude put it, "no particular reason other than the fact being nosy as hell is a tradition around these parts, I guess."

It was a formality, like many other things about aristocratic society, and most attendants would already know it was a strictly political move-- but nonetheless, they were still expected to act at least somewhat lovestruck and couple-like during the duration of the ceremony and reception.

Which was a problem, because Lysithea was _not_ lovestruck with Claude, and unlike him, she wasn't good at acting.

So Claude, never the one to pull off a less than perfectly foolproof scheme, went off to buy a temporary love potion (concocted by Constance, brokered by Yuri) that would last exactly for the duration of the ceremony and help them act like a couple…

\---

...and now, here they were, sitting across each other in chairs, with Lysithea's parents behind her and Judith and Nardel (as stand-ins for his parents) behind Claude.

She looked back and forth between the ground and his face, since that would be slightly less awkward than looking to the side at the gathering crowd-- not because she thought he looked handsome, slightly dressed down and presenting himself as a humble man asking for her hand in marriage instead of the Duke of Riegan, or anything like that.

He almost seemed nervous, too, fidgeting and shifting and clearing his throat, with an expression somewhere between a grin and a grimace.

 _I wonder if he would be like that when he's asking to marry someone he really loves, once the war is over_ , whispered a corner of her mind.

She frowned and shook her head to clear the thought, unsure of where it came from but not caring enough to find out. (Probably just the stupid potion.)

"Good to go?" Claude mouthed, after taking a quick look at the audience.

"Let's make this quick," she mouthed back, as Judith cleared her throat and made the crowd's chatters die down.

\---

They'd already rehearsed most, if not all, of the questions that would be asked, such as: when would the wedding occur (once the war was over), who would pay how much dowry to whom (House Ordelia to House Riegan, dowry is negligible because Claude didn't care about that stuff and House Ordelia wasn't exactly well off), where would they stay after the wedding (Riegan estate), what would they do about heirs (Claude answered that would be between the two of them after getting married, Lysithea quickly added that inheritance would have nothing to do with Crests), et cetera.

"Now, for the final question..."

None of the things they answered would become a reality, of course, but because of the love potion-- it _had_ to be the love potion-- she kept having the thought that, well, if she wasn't going to die young, she really may have liked to live the kind of future they were outlining.

Thank goodness it would wear off after the ceremony, she thought.

"...Lysithea von Ordelia," came Nardel's voice, loud and booming.

She straightened her back and cleared her throat.

"Yes?"

"Why should we, as Claude's designated guardians, give you our blessings to marry him?"

Lysithea stared at Claude with her eyes wide open, attempting to convey the words of, "This wasn't in the script!" without moving her mouth.

He raised an eyebrow and tilted his head slightly in what appeared to be the, "Just wing it," motion.

Cursing herself for going along with this all-insane, not-genius idea, she breathed, in and out, in and out.

"Claude is," she finally began, "Claude is...a pain, a handful, and overall, extremely annoying for me to deal with."

A glance aside showed some people gasping and some (her classmates) solemnly nodding.

She looked back at Claude, who had a sheepish, acknowledging grin on his face as Judith gripped his shoulders and Nardel also nodded.

"But," she continued, emphasizing the word to get everyone's attention back, "there is also nobody else I trust more, and nobody else I would rather fight for, and alongside, than him."

From there on, the words kept flowing out, the usual mental filter she ran them through with nowhere to be found.

"I trusted him to keep everyone safe and lead us to victories five years ago, at the Officer's Academy, and I trust him with the same thing now. And although I, in all honesty, have many doubts about this war-- I still chose to fight, for my family, and for him."

Claude stared back at her, wide-eyed and looking legitimately surprised.

 _This must be one hell of a love potion,_ she thought, _making me admit things like this out loud._

"All my life, I've worked tirelessly for the sake of my family," she stated, locking eyes with him. "If you will acknowledge me as part of his family, too, then-- there is nobody else I would like to dedicate my remaining time, my effort, my powers, and--"

Her breath hitched slightly,

"--my love for, than him."

The room was silent, aside from one particular person (it sounded like Hilda) swooning.

Judith and Nardel slowly gave acknowledging nods, before looking past her, at her own parents.

"And Claude von Riegan," her mother began, "why should we, as Lysithea's parents, give you our blessings to marry her?"

"Because I love her."

The answer came immediately, and now, it was her turn to stare at him in shock.

"I love her," he repeated, more slowly this time, "more than anything else in the world, and there is nothing I wish for more than for the two of us to have a family and grow old together."

She felt a pang in her chest upon hearing the last few words, but blinked away any tears before they came out.

 _Love potion_ , she reminded herself, _he's saying that because of the love potion._

"All the ambitions I hold, I want to make come true with her, and when I imagine the future, I can't picture mine without her."

But goddess, how she wished those words could be true.

Claude took a few seconds to catch his breath, then continued.

"If you let me marry her," his expression was one of the rare serious ones now, "then her happiness and tears will be my own, and come whatever challenges may our way, I vow that I will persevere to keep her safe."

It was a very good thing that she didn't have to be the one to respond, as her tongue felt swollen and tied, and her face burning hot.

"Very well," came her father's voice, "you have our blessings."

Judith smiled, the usually steely gaze softened into one of pride for the young man in front of her. "And you, ours."

They stood up, and she tried very hard to not look at his face as they exchanged rings, concentrating on the bump of his knuckles or the texture of his calloused fingertips instead.

"...Here."

If she looked at him now, while they were this close, she felt like she would actually fall in love with him.

"Oh, and, one more thing I forgot to say."

Her head raised itself before her self-control could kick in, and saw Claude grinning, with his eyes curved into crescent moons.

"I'm still going to tease you for being childish even when we have grandkids."

Lysithea shoved him back into the chair.

\---  
\---

"My, that was quite a delightful ceremony," Constance hummed. "The food and music at the reception was exquisite, and I've encountered many potential allies amongst the Leicester nobles! Not to mention, the two of them make quite a fetching couple."

Yuri nodded. "Yeah, pretty cute together, aren't they."

"I am rather surprised that it took the power of my potions for them to profess their love for each other-- but now that they have felt the might of Nuvelle sorcery, surely they will support me in the restoration of my house as well!"

"Yep, yep, good luck, just remember to pay me for being the dealer for all your potions~"

As Constance huffed about how he was difficult to work with, Yuri took out two crumpled labels and smirked while gazing at them.

 _Love potions, eh?_ he thought, then shook his head before shoving them back in his pocket. _Couple of idiots, those two._

The labels read, Nuvelle Truth Serum.

**Author's Note:**

> [LysiClaude week twitter](https://twitter.com/LysiClaudeWeek?s=20)   
>    
>  [Writer twitter](https://twitter.com/slotumn?s=09)   
>    
>  [Artist twitter](https://twitter.com/denpring?s=09)   
> 


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